About This Guide

This guide covers Units in RoadBays — the master list of everything in your fleet, and the unit record behind each one. It is written for fleet end users: maintenance coordinators, shop managers, and anyone who needs to look up a truck and find out what has been done to it.

You do not need to read it end to end. Use the table of contents to jump to the tab you are on.

How to read the instructions

What a unit is

A unit is one physical asset: a tractor, a trailer, a box truck, a reefer, a forklift, a yard goat. If it can break down, it should be a unit in RoadBays.

Units are the spine of the system. A case is opened against a unit. A work order is written against a unit. An inspection is performed on a unit. A maintenance schedule comes due on a unit. Because everything points back here, the unit record ends up holding the complete service history of that asset — which is exactly what you want when the truck is down and somebody is asking whether this has happened before.

The two screens

What you can do depends on your role

Two permissions control unit editing. If a button described in this guide is missing or greyed out, this is usually why.

The Unit List

Open Units from the main navigation. The heading reads Units, with the subtitle "Master list of all equipment in your fleet."

What is on the screen

The columns

Every cell in every column except Delete is a link to that unit's record. Click anywhere on the row to open it.

Finding a unit

Search

1. Click the Search box at the top right of the table.
2. Type any part of what you are looking for — a unit number, part of a VIN, a plate, a make.
3. The table narrows as you type.

Sorting

Click any column heading to sort by it. Click again to reverse the order. Sorting by Mileage is a quick way to see which units are working hardest; sorting by Status groups the fleet into what is on the road and what is not.

Filtering by type and status

The two dropdowns in the filter bar let you pick more than one value at a time. They are built from the units you actually have, so you only ever see types and statuses that exist in your fleet.

1. Click Unit type or Status to open the dropdown.
2. Tick the values you want. Tick more than one to see all of them together.
3. Click outside the dropdown to close it.

The line under the filter bar changes from "Showing all units" to "Filtering by — Type: Tractor | Status: Active" so you can always see what is being applied. Click Clear filters to reset both dropdowns to All.

Exporting the list

Export Excel and Export CSV both download what is currently on screen, under the title "RoadBays Units". Filters and search apply — if you have filtered to active trailers, that is what you get.

Both exports include all eleven data columns and leave out the Delete column.

Deleting a unit

1. Find the unit in the list.
2. Click Delete in the last column.
3. Confirm "Are you sure you want to delete this unit?"

The row disappears from the table immediately.

Adding a Unit

Click New Unit on the unit list. The page is headed Add Unit.

Start with the VIN

The blue banner at the top of the form says it plainly: enter the VIN first and let RoadBays fill in the rest.

1. Type or scan the full VIN into the box at the top of the page.
2. Click Unit Lookup.
3. Wait for the page to come back with the decoded specifications filled in.
4. Check what came back, correct anything wrong, and fill in what the decoder could not know.

The lookup reads the VIN and returns what the manufacturer encoded in it — typically make, model, model year, engine details, brake system, and chassis information. It cannot know your unit number, your plate, your driver, or which customer the unit is assigned to. Those you enter.

The required fields

Five fields are marked with an asterisk and the unit will not save without them.

The rest of the form

Everything below the required block is optional, but the more of it you complete the more useful the unit record becomes later. Filling in engine details now is what makes a fault code meaningful in eighteen months.

Saving

1. Check the five required fields are complete.
2. Click Add New Unit at the bottom of the form.
3. Look for the green confirmation "Unit successfully recorded."

The form clears so you can add the next unit straight away.

Adding several units

Because the form clears itself and stays open, adding a run of similar units is quick: VIN, Unit Lookup, unit number, save, repeat. For anything more than a handful, use the Excel import instead.

Importing Units from Excel

If you are onboarding a fleet, or adding a batch of new equipment, importing a spreadsheet is much faster than the form. Both buttons are in the toolbar on the unit list.

How to import

1. Click Download Template on the unit list. A spreadsheet downloads with the columns RoadBays expects.
2. Fill in one row per unit. Do not rename, reorder, or remove the column headings.
3. Save the file as .xlsx or .xls.
4. Back in RoadBays, click Import from Excel.
5. Choose your file in the file picker.
6. The upload starts by itself — the button changes to "Uploading…" and a status message appears beside it.
7. When it finishes, a blue summary banner appears above the filter bar telling you what was imported.

Getting a clean import

• Always start from a freshly downloaded template. An old template may be missing columns that have since been added.
• Keep the header row exactly as it comes. The import matches on column names.
• Give every row a unit number, make, model, model year, and unit type — the same five fields the form requires.
• Make sure VINs are complete and correct. A partial VIN imports as text but will not decode later.
• Format model years as plain numbers, not dates. Spreadsheets like to turn 2022 into something else.
• Check the unit type values match the types set up in your organization, spelled the same way.

Reading the result

The blue banner at the top of the unit list is the import summary. Read it before you do anything else — it is the only place the result is reported, and it disappears when you navigate away or refresh the page.

Afterwards, sort the unit list by Unit # or search for a few of the units you imported to confirm they arrived as expected.

The Unit Record

Click any unit on the list to open its record. The page is headed Unit Details and everything about that unit lives here, on eleven tabs.

The tabs

Unit Metrics

At the top of the Unit Details tab, five cards summarize what this unit has cost you.

Invoices or Work Orders

The toggle at the top right of the metrics switches which set of numbers you are looking at.

The card labels change with the toggle, so you can always tell which view you are on — "YTD Invoice Cost" or "YTD Work Order Cost". Open Cases is the same number either way.

Create Case and Create Work Order

Two buttons sit above the metrics. Both start new work with this unit already attached, which saves you finding the unit again from inside the case or the workbench.

Use Create Case when you are reporting a problem and do not yet know what the repair is. Use Create Work Order when you already know the work and are going to price it.

The specification fields

Below the metrics, the unit's own details are grouped into four blocks.

Identification

VIN, Unit Number, Make, Model, Year, and Unit Type are all required and marked with an asterisk. Unit Status, Engine Hours, and Hour Meter sit in the same block.

Registration and Assignment

License, Color, Body Type, Fuel Type, Transmission, Assigned Customer, Driver First Name, Driver Last Name, and Door Type.

Assigned Customer matters if you maintain equipment on behalf of customers — it is what ties the unit to the right account for billing and reporting.

Engine

Engine, Manufacturer, Cylinders, Stroke Cycles, Capacity, and Horsepower. Mostly filled by the VIN decoder when the unit was created.

Chassis and Drivetrain

Tire Size, Wheelbase, Driveline Type, Front Axle Position, Brake System, and Length.

Saving changes

1. Edit the fields you need to change.
2. Click Save Unit at the bottom of the tab.

Mileage

The Mileage tab tracks odometer readings for the unit over time. It is headed "Mileage Tracking — Log current odometer readings for this unit."

Why it matters

Mileage is not just a record. Mileage-based maintenance schedules use the current odometer to work out what is due, so a unit whose mileage has not been updated in four months will show maintenance as not yet due when it is overdue in reality. Recording mileage regularly is what makes preventive maintenance work.

Recording a reading

1. Open the Mileage tab.
2. Type the current odometer reading into the box.
3. Click Save Mileage.

The new reading appears at the top of the history table immediately, and the unit's Mileage column on the unit list updates to match.

The history table

Readings recorded on a case also land here, so the table is the full picture from every source, not just what was typed on this tab.

Case History

Every case ever opened against this unit, on one screen. This is the tab you open when someone asks "has this happened before?"

The columns

Dates that turn amber

Est Arrival, Follow Up, and Est Completion turn into an amber badge once the date has passed. An amber date means a promise that was not kept — the provider has not arrived, the follow-up has not happened, or the work has run past its estimated completion.

Changing a case status

1. Click the status word in the Status column.
2. Pick Pending, Open, Complete, or Closed from the dropdown.

The change is saved as soon as you pick it. You do not have to open the case.

Using the history

Sort by Created to read the unit's life in order. Search the Description column for a symptom — "air leak", "regen", "APU" — to find out whether this is a repeat problem. A unit that generates the same case three times in a year is telling you something that no single case will.

Work Orders and Invoices

Two tabs cover the billing history of the unit: Est/WO/Invoice for current work orders, and Invoices (legacy) for the older invoice records.

Est/WO/Invoice

Headed "Work Order History — All work orders associated with this unit." This is the tab you want in almost every case.

The Estimate and Invoice columns are how you get from a line in this table to the actual paperwork. Everything opens in the Billing Workbench.

Invoices (legacy)

Headed "Invoice History (Legacy) — All invoices associated with this unit." These are invoices from the earlier invoicing system, kept so that historical records stay complete.

Columns are Invoice #, Case #, Status, Opened, Completed, Closed, Follow Up, Est Completion, and Description. Every cell links to the invoice.

Inspections

The Inspections tab has three sections: what failed and has not been dealt with, what inspections are scheduled, and what has already been done.

Open Failures

Headed "Failed inspection items for this unit that haven't been converted yet." These are items a technician marked as failed during an inspection, which nobody has turned into work yet.

Turning a failure into work

The two buttons in the Actions column are the whole point of this section. A failure sitting in this list is a known defect that nobody is working on.

Either way, the failure drops off the Open Failures list — it has been converted — and the new case or work order carries the item, the unit, and the inspection it came from.

Assigned Inspection Schedule

Recurring inspections for this unit — annual DOT, quarterly, monthly walkarounds, whatever your organization has set up.

Mark Done records the inspection as completed today and rolls the next due date forward by the interval.

Inspection History

Every inspection performed on this unit.

Maintenance

The Maintenance tab shows the preventive maintenance schedules assigned to this unit and the service history against them.

Assigned Schedules

Headed "Schedules assigned to this unit with last/next due dates."

Reading the status badges

Acting on a due schedule

Editing the last service

Use this when a service was done but recorded late or wrongly, and the next due date has ended up wrong as a result.

1. Click Edit Last Service on the schedule row.
2. In the modal, check the Schedule name at the top — it is read-only, so you can confirm you have the right one.
3. Set Last Service Date to when the service actually happened.
4. Set Last Service Odometer to the reading at that time.
5. Add a Note explaining the change. The field asks "Why are you changing this?" — answer it.
6. Click Save.

The schedule recalculates its next due date and odometer from the corrected figures, and both the schedules table and the service history refresh.

Maintenance History

Headed "Completed maintenance tied to schedules."

Created and Service Date are different on purpose. Created is when the record was entered; Service Date is when the wrench turned. They differ whenever a service is recorded after the fact.

Warranty

The Warranty tab records what coverage this unit has, who holds the lien on it, and every warranty previously recorded.

The point of keeping it here is simple: before a repair is authorized, someone should be able to answer "is this under warranty?" in ten seconds. If the coverage is recorded, they can.

Warranty Coverage

Lienholder

Name, Phone, Address, City, State, and Zip for whoever holds the lien on the unit. Worth completing if the unit is financed — it is the information you need when a unit is sold, totaled, or refinanced, and it is a nuisance to chase down later.

Saving a warranty

1. Fill in Base Warranty and as much of the rest as you have.
2. Click Save Warranty.

The new warranty appears at the top of the Warranty History table.

Warranty History

Shows Base Warranty, Term, Effective, and Termination for each recorded warranty, with a Delete button on each row. Click any of the first four columns to open the warranty and see everything recorded on it.

Because each save adds a row rather than replacing one, the table becomes the unit's coverage over time — base warranty, then extended coverage, then a wrap — which is exactly what you want when a claim is made against a period that has since ended.

Fault Codes

The Fault Codes tab holds diagnostic trouble codes for this unit, with a lookup service badged "Powered By Diesel Laptops".

The table

Reading First and Last Observed together

These two dates are the most useful thing on the tab. A code first observed this morning and last observed this morning is a one-off. A code first observed four months ago and last observed today has been there the whole time and nobody has dealt with it. An intermittent code that comes and goes shows a wide gap between the two.

Looking up a code

1. Find the code in the table.
2. Click Details in the last column.

A Diesel Laptops page opens in a new tab with repair information for that code on this specific VIN — so the guidance is for your engine and configuration, not a generic description.

Two more buttons sit above the table: Refresh Fault Codes pulls the latest codes for the unit, and Fault Code Lookup opens the Diesel Laptops lookup directly.

Recording a code by hand

Codes a technician read off a hand-held scanner will not arrive on their own. Add them so they become part of the unit's history.

1. Type the code into the Code Label box.
2. Type what it means into the Code Description box.
3. Click Save Fault Code.

The code appears at the top of the table with its Details link ready to use.

Files

The Files tab holds "photos, documents, audio files, or short videos tied to this unit." Anything that belongs with the unit rather than with one particular repair belongs here — the title, the registration, the spec sheet, the walkaround photos, the recording of the noise.

Uploading a file

1. Open the Files tab.
2. Click Choose file and pick the file.
3. The file name appears beside the button. If RoadBays does not accept the file, a message explains why and the upload button stays disabled.
4. Click Upload.

The button changes to "Uploading…" while the file transfers, and the file appears in the Uploaded Files section when it is done.

What you can upload

Deleting a file

1. Find the file in Uploaded Files.
2. Click Delete on it.
3. Confirm "Are you sure you want to delete this file?"

The file fades out of the list. Deleting is permanent.

What to keep here

• Title, registration, and permit documents
• The manufacturer spec sheet and any build sheet
• Warranty paperwork, so the claim details are with the unit
• Photos of existing damage, taken when the unit joined the fleet
• Photos or video of a recurring problem
• Audio of an intermittent noise

Files that belong to one repair are better attached to that case or work order, where they stay in context. The unit's Files tab is for what is true about the unit itself.

Tire Management

Tires are the second-largest running cost on most fleets after fuel, and the easiest to lose track of. This tab tracks every tire by wheel position: what is fitted, what tread it has, what pressure it is running, and everything that has been done to it.

Setting up the axle configuration

Before you can record tires, RoadBays needs to know the unit's wheel layout. The first time you open the tab on a new unit it shows "Set Up Axle Configuration".

1. Choose a wheel position count: 4, 6, 8, or 10. Each button shows the axle arrangements it covers — 4 is 4x2 and 4x4, 6 is 6x2, 6x4 and 6x6, 8 covers 8x2 through 8x8, and 10 covers 10x8 and 10x10.
2. Click Save Axle Configuration.

RoadBays builds the axles and their positions, and the tab switches to the configuration display with a summary such as "10 wheel positions across 3 axle(s)".

Steer and drive axles

Each axle has a dropdown set to Steer or Drive. Change it and the new setting saves straight away — you will see "Axle updated." The setting matters because rotation patterns move tires between axle types.

Reconfiguring

Click Reconfigure to remove the axle configuration and start again.

The wheel position diagram

Once configured, the tab shows each axle as a card with its positions laid out across it. Each position shows one of two things.

The tread color code

The tread reading on each position is colored against that tire's own minimum tread depth.

Installing a tire

1. Click Install on an empty position.
2. Pick the Tire Model from the dropdown. The list is your tire parts from inventory.
3. Either choose an On-Hand Serial from the dropdown — a tire you already have in stock — or leave it on "Use a new serial instead" and type the serial into Serial Number.
4. Set the Install Date.
5. Enter the Tire Meter at Install — the unit's mileage when the tire went on.
6. Enter Current Tread Depth (32nds) and Current Pressure (PSI).
7. Enter the Tire Identification Number if you have it.
8. Click Save.

The position fills in on the diagram and the install is recorded in Tire Activity.

Recording a reading

Click Edit on an installed position to update the tread depth and pressure. Save records the new reading — you will see "Reading updated." — and it lands in Tire Activity with its date.

Doing this on a regular walkaround is what turns the tab from a record of what is fitted into something that tells you how fast your tires are wearing.

Copying a tire to other positions

When a unit gets four identical tires at once, entering each one separately is tedious. Copy does the repetitive part.

1. Click Copy on a position that already has the right tire recorded.
2. In the modal, tick the empty positions you want the same tire details on.
3. Give each selected position its own serial number.
4. Click Copy to Selected.

RoadBays confirms how many positions it copied to.

Rotating tires

1. Click Rotate Tires above the diagram.
2. Pick a Rotation Pattern from the dropdown. The patterns offered are the ones that fit this unit's wheel position count.
3. Check the preview of which position moves where.
4. Click Rotate.

Every tire moves to its new position, the diagram redraws, and the rotation is written into Tire Activity — so each tire keeps its own history as it moves around the unit.

Removing a tire

1. Click the X on an installed position.
2. Confirm "Remove this tire from its position? It will be returned to on-hand inventory."

The position empties and the tire goes back into inventory as on-hand, where it can be installed on another unit.

Tire Activity

Headed "Full history of installs, removals, rotations, and readings for this unit."

This table answers the questions the diagram cannot: how long that tire has been on, how fast it is wearing, and whether it has been rotated on schedule.

Common Workflows

Adding a new truck to the fleet

1. Units, then New Unit.
2. Scan or type the VIN and click Unit Lookup.
3. Check the decoded specifications and correct anything wrong.
4. Enter the unit number, plate, unit type, and assigned customer.
5. Set Unit Status to Active.
6. Click Add New Unit.
7. Open the new unit and record the current odometer on the Mileage tab.
8. Record the warranty on the Warranty tab.
9. Set up the axle configuration and record the tires on the Tire Management tab.
10. Upload the title, registration, and any delivery photos on the Files tab.

Twenty minutes at the point the unit arrives saves hours across its life. Everything you enter now is something nobody has to chase later.

Answering "has this happened before?"

1. Find the unit and open it.
2. Open Case History and search the Description column for the symptom.
3. Sort by Created to see whether it is getting more frequent.
4. Check Est/WO/Invoice for what was actually done and what it cost each time.
5. Check Fault Codes for a code that has been present the whole time.

Preparing a unit for a DOT inspection

1. Open the unit and go to Inspections.
2. Clear the Open Failures list — convert anything outstanding into a case or a work order.
3. Check the Assigned Inspection Schedule for anything due.
4. Go to Maintenance and deal with any amber or red schedules.
5. Go to Tire Management and check for red tread readings.
6. Confirm the registration and permit documents on the Files tab are current.

Deciding whether to keep a unit

1. Open the unit and read the Unit Metrics on the Unit Details tab.
2. Compare Last 12 Mo Cost with the same figure on comparable units.
3. Switch the toggle to Work Orders to see what is in progress but not yet billed.
4. Open Case History and sort by Created — a unit generating cases every few weeks costs more than the invoices show, in downtime.
5. Check the Maintenance tab for large services coming due.
6. Check the Warranty tab for coverage about to terminate.

Retiring a unit

1. Open the unit.
2. Close out any open cases from Case History.
3. Set Unit Status to Sold, Inactive, or Totaled / Scrapped.
4. Click Save Unit.

The unit keeps its whole history and drops out of your active-fleet filters. Do not delete it.

A monthly fleet check

1. Open Units and filter Status to Active.
2. Sort by Mileage and look for units whose reading has not moved — those are units nobody is recording mileage on, and their maintenance schedules are drifting.
3. Export Excel for the record.
4. Open the units with the highest mileage and check their Maintenance tabs first.

Troubleshooting

Glossary

Need More Help?

If something in Units is not working the way this page describes, email support@roadbays.com or submit a question from the Help page.